“One thing that we weren’t scared of while making Schitt’s Creek was sincerity. I think my new film has that fearlessness— when it comes to touching on earnestness, warmth, and honesty. I could have gone down a path where I wanted to make it edgier, but that wasn’t my experience.”
-Dan Levy, episode 358 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Over the past decade, writer and actor Dan Levy rose to prominence for his work on Schitt’s Creek. After co-creating the series with his father, Eugene Levy, he turned to a more personal project.
Said project is his heartfelt directorial debut, a film entitled Good Grief (4:40). At the top of our conversation, Dan shares the origin of this story (13:22) and we discuss the importance of friendship (15:18), his experience working as a director (18:30), and a pivotal, full-circle moment from his time in London (20:32). Then, we discuss how he charted his course as a co-host on MTV Canada (28:00), the red carpet experience that clarified his path forward (35:22), and his ultimate arrival at making Schitt’s Creek (37:40).
On the back-half, we unpack the pure, timeless nature of the hit series (45:25), Dan’s journey to making Good Grief after the show’s momentous conclusion (49:15), a powerful scene from the film (52:18), the universality of loss (56:40), and the responses that encourage him to continue creating (1:00:00).
For questions, comments, or to join our mailing list, reach me at sf@talkeasypod.com.
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Show-notes:
- Watch Dan Levy’s new film Good Grief on Netflix.
- Stream all six seasons of Schitt’s Creek on Hulu.
- Read Alissa Wilkinson’s review of Good Grief in The New York Times.
- Learn about Dan’s eyewear brand DL Eyewear.
- Follow Dan on Instagram and Twitter.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with Quinta Brunson, Chris Elliott, Abbi Jacobson, Steven Yeun, Bob Odenkirk, and Steven Soderbergh.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
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Original illustration by Krishna Shenoi. Reference image by Jose Mandojana.
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